The way Bravettes coach Jason Burkiewicz sees it, a win at Illinois Wesleyan University has to be coming his way.

"The first thing we have to address is that we have not won at Wesleyan and I'm sure that's going to come up," said Burkiewicz following his team's 64-44 Class 1A IVCC Sectional title win over Hinckley-Big Rock Thursday night. "We haven't won at State Farm and we didn't win last year, but we're going to get one this year."

His Bravettes are 0-3 in the State Farm Holiday Classic at IWU, and lost to LeRoy 56-53 in last year's Elite 8 battle at the Shirk Center.

"If you want to go a step farther, we haven't won in baseball down there either," said Burkiewicz, who's also an assistant coach for the Annawan-Wethersfield baseball team. "I'm 0-6 in the two sports."

The Bravettes have an opportunity to end that Bloomington skid Monday night at 7:30 when they meet Iroquois West in the Illinois Wesleyan Super-Sectional. IW spoiled an Elite 8 rematch by defeating LeRoy 46-35 to win the Fisher Sectional.

Annawan's return to the Elite 8 wasn't without its challenges Thursday night against a scrappy H-BR squad. Every time the Bravettes claimed some breathing room, the Lady Royals battled back. H-BR cut double-digit leads to single digits in both the second and fourth quarters, before finally wilting under Annawan's relentless defensive pressure. The Bravettes forced 41 H-BR turnovers and recorded a jaw-dropping 29 steals.

"We count on it," said Burkiewicz of his team's defense. "It's funny, when I took over this program I wasn't a zone person at all. That's all we do now. We just try to get in the passing lanes and try to make it difficult for the other team to score. We definitely have the players for it."

The Bravettes, however, did struggle in creating points off of those turnovers.

"That's the key, to finish it off with layups and that kind of puts a team away. When we were missing, I think that kept giving them confidence to stay in the game," said Burkiewicz.

Annawan led by 15 points on two occasions in the second quarter, but an 8-1 H-BR run to close the half pulled the Lady Royals within 34-26.

Much like the regional title win over Wethersfield, Megan Foes fueled a third-quarter surge for the Bravettes. She scored nine points in an 13-2 run to start the second half that pushed the margin to 47-28.

"We needed to make our run. We count on it every game to get it at some point," said Burkiewicz. "That was the quarter that kind of helped us through. We struggled in a lot of aspects of the game tonight (Thursday). I think the girls got a wakeup call."

Page 2 of 2 - H-BR made one last gasp, trimming the deficit to 49-40 early in the final quarter, but Annawan went on a 14-4 run down the stretch to seal its second straight sectional title.

Celina VanHyfte filled the stat sheet for the 28-2 Bravettes — 21 points, 15 rebounds, six steals, five assists and four blocks.

Burkiewicz confessed he'd like a rematch with LeRoy Monday night, but Iroquois West denied that desire. Annawan and IW do have a common opponent in Champaign St. Thomas More. The Bravettes lost to the Class 2A power 62-58 in overtime at the State Farm Holiday Classic in December, while St. Thomas More blasted IW 84-30.

"I'm sure that will give the girls a little bit of confidence since we played them (St. Thomas More) so tough," said Burkiewicz. "It doesn't matter who's there, we need to play good basketball. We need to finally break through on this.”

Davis debuts at sectional

Alleman transfer Cierra Davis made her debut for the Bravettes Thursday night, adding some depth to any already talented team.

Davis entered the game at the 7:07 mark of the second quarter. She rattled in a 3-pointer and made 2 of 5 free throws in a five-minute stretch.

"She knows limited stuff within our playbook and we have to keep it simple when she's in, but I thought it was important to get her some minutes," said Burkiewicz. "She came off the floor and said she felt like everything was going a thousand miles per hour."

Davis returned in the second half and finished with five points, three steals and three rebounds.

"We knew the time was now to get her in and she said she felt comfortable," said Burkiewicz. "She actually played a little bit more than I thought she would. Once she settles down, she'll definitely be a weapon."